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Weight Loss Surgery is Not a Quick Fix
In the United States today, more than 44 million individuals are obese. Our lifestyles are sedentary; our portions are out of control. Oddly enough, even though more than half of the nation is, in layman’s terms, fat, this situation is not embraced. Rather, we are constantly reminded in one way or another that being overweight is wrong. Not only do news reports warn us of the health problems linked to obesity, but celebrities, fashion magazines, and the media equate thinness with success and happiness.
Health risks combined with pressure to conform are sometimes too much for the obese to tolerate. Some of these people feel that they need to correct their flaws immediately. Individuals who feel a traditional diet program is too difficult or lengthy often opt for a gastric bypass, which surgically reduces the size of the stomach. However, those who elect to have this procedure are often shunned by thin individuals who imply that this surgery is an effortless escape from morbid obesity. On the contrary, as will be discussed in the context of this paper, bariatric surgery is anything but an “easy way out” (Bailey). Gastric bypass surgery is a life-altering, potentially life-threatening decision and those have such an operation demonstrate great discipline and sacrifice.
First it is important to realize how detrimental obesity really is. For starters, the health risks associated with carrying extra weight are countless. Statistics show
In the chapter The Adoption and Management of a “Fat” Identity, Douglas Degher and Gerald Hughes analyze how the reality of people that are overweight changes. “Obese people are fat first, and only secondary are seen as possessing ancillary characteristics.”(Degher and Hughes p.265). In today's society being overweight or not having the ideal body being portrayed by the media is usually considered as unhealthy. As a consequence, pharmaceutical drugs are being created daily to help reduce weight, workout dvds are being produced daily, and clothes keeps getting reduced and limited so that overweight people have a hard time finding something that fits them and that they like. In the eyes of countless individuals, being fat is considered deviant
Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It published by Gary Taubes is a controversial 217 page look at the obesity epidemic plaguing the world. Taubes spends the entirety of the report analyzing the common myths of weight gain and weight loss. Taubes himself is a correspondent to Science magazine, has had works published in the New York Times, and is an investigator of health policy research at the University of California’s School of Public Health.
America, like any other country, has its assortment of problems: immigration, debt, or foreign affairs but one issue that is rather hard to overlook, literally, its obesity epidemic. The extra pounds have become a sight all too common in America’s society, “men are now on average seventeen pounds heavier than they were in the late seventies, and for women that figure is even higher: nineteen pounds.” (Kolbert). Obesity does not just affect adults in this way either, the kid population has been getting bigger, according to the numbers on a scale “the proportion of overweight children, age six to eleven, has more than doubled, while the proportion of overweight adolescents, age twelve to nineteen, has more than tripled.” (Kolbert). This issue has been a major concern to doctors and scientists for decades and in recent years, has even has the American Medical Association recognizing obesity to be a disease (Pollack). That is a highly debatable statement because obesity itself is a preventable lifestyle. Obesity is avoidable and curable to all (or at least most) of its sufferers. For some citizens, obesity is not a choice, rather genetics, but for the majority of the population, obesity is caused by an unhealthy diet and lazy lifestyle, and for these certain individuals, through a lot of work and discipline, the return to a healthy lifestyle is not as impossible as it may appear.
“I think I may go out on the town today and see what kind of fun things I can do.” Mommy look at that fat girl, fat people shouldn’t be allowed out, quack quack waddle fat girl, hey shamu go back to the water. These are some of the things that I have endured and heard on a day-to-day when going out in public as an obese individual. Like myself, a lot of other obese individuals have embarked on many failed weight loss attempts only to gain instead of lose weight. Bariatric Surgery is a great lifelong tool to help aid in weight loss and manage the success;, however, many individuals shy away from the surgery because many health professionals only state the risks over the benefits. Bariatric surgery has become very popular in the United States, but there are many factors to consider such as the risks and benefits, success rates, and procedure options offered. Bariatric surgery has afforded many obese individuals a new lease on life. Medical doctors and insurance companies seem to be down playing the benefits as a way to keep patients with many obesity related ailments to keep them in business. The benefits that bariatric surgery has greatly outweigh the risks and allows for new beginnings.
In the United States today, obesity has become an enormous problem. In the last 3 decades, the number of people overweight has increased dramatically. A study done by the Centers of Disease Control showed that since 1980, one third of our adult population has become overweight. America is the richest but also the fattest nation in the world and our obese backsides are the butt of jokes in every other country (Klein 28). The 1980s were a time when Americans suddenly started going crazy over dieting, jumping onto the treadmills, and buying prepackaged non-fat foods. However, while all of that was going on, the number of obese Americans began to increase. According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 58 million
In a way, this book highlights the various consequences of obesity in significant detail. In the author's opinion, obesity does impact on an individual's health negatively from both a surgical and mental
In the American culture, obesity is seen as a bodily abnormality and deviance that should be corrected. Obesity has indeed become one of the most stigmatizing bodily characteristics in our culture (Brink, 1994). In the Western culture, thinness does not just mean the size of the
In Escudero’s essay, “Bariatric Surgery: The Unspoken Truth,” he explores the risks and benefits of gastric bypass surgery. In this argumentative essay the author explains what the surgery is, what it does and how the different lifestyles of the patients change drastically in order to support their new body. Escudero mentions how before reaching a decision there should be research conducted in order to determine whether the operation is right for the individual whose life is at risk. He begins with a background check of what the surgery does and then incorporates positive and negative feedback from the surgery.
Obesity in America is an epidemic people die from this deadly disease. As people of America, we first need to understand what does it really mean to be overweight and uncomfortable? Nutritionists classify people in today’s society as either underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese. Being obese is not just a cosmetic problem. It’s a health issue that needs to be solved. Excess body fat accumulated over a period of time is harmful and it hurts.imagine walking around holding a ten-pound weight every day, then a few weeks later that ten-pound weight turns into a 2o pound weight. That’s not a good feeling it’s very comfortable. Who wants to have shortness of breath heart problems, diabetes, wheelchair bound or bed bound? Let’s make a change for humanity and the next generations.
Obesity has become increasingly more prominent in American society. The Unites States has even been termed an overweight nation. Some twenty to thirty percent of American adults are now considered obese (Hwang 1999 and Hirsch et al 1997). With this in mind, Americans constantly look around themselves determining their weight status as well as that of those around them. While some Americans do fit the healthy category, others enter the underweight, overweight, and even obese categories, all of which can be unhealthy.
Obesity is a huge issue, not only in america but worldwide. Many methods of preventing obesity exist, and there are many ways to reverse bad choices leading to obesity. There are also many causes and effects of obesity, some are more common than the other. Not to mention when being obese you put yourself at risk for type two diabetes. You can prevent obesity and type two diabetes easily, if you know how to and have the will power. There are many causes and effects of obesity, also there are ways to prevent obesity, one effect of obesity is type two diabetes.
Obesity is climbing the charts as being a major killer of our population. This paper informs the reader on how bariatric surgery treats the severely obese. Focus is given on who should
Obesity has caused great dilemma in America. It was known as an adult disease. “Over two thirds of adults are over weight or obese.”(Obesity, Jerry R Ballenttne) these numbers are increasing rapidly. Obesity is not just a appearance
Obesity can cause other health problems to occur. There is a direct like between obesity and type 2 diabetes. It also put you at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and other illnesses
Two thirds of American adults are obese or overweight. Obesity is a silent killer that is taking over the United States slowly but surely. People do not typically realize how serious obesity is and it gets joked about, humiliating those who are affected. Obesity is not a joke, it is a disease that is killing everyone’s family, friends and neighbors. Obesity alone is detrimental to the health of an individual, it causes many adverse effects to the body that are often difficult to repair or cure.